New Delhi, Oct 19 : On October 19, the fifth Russian-Chinese Energy Business Forum (RCEBF) was opened in Beijing. This event has been taking place every year since 2018 in accordance with agreements between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The Forum is held under the auspices of the Russian Presidential Commission for Fuel and Energy Complex Development Strategy and Environmental Safety and the National Energy Administration of the People's Republic of China, co-organized by Rosneft and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC). The Forum opening ceremony was attended by Ding Xuexiang, First Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China, Igor Sechin, Executive Secretary of the Presidential Commission for Strategic Development of the Fuel and Energy Sector and Environmental Security, Chief Executive Officer of Rosneft, Aleksandr Novak, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, and Dai Houliang, Chairman of the Board of Directors of China National Petroleum Corporation. Igor Sechin, Chief Executive Officer of Rosneft, made a speech in which he noted that Forum is attended by representatives of more than 100 Russian and Chinese companies from the energy and related industries, which account for more than 45 per cent of the trade volume between Russia and China. Cooperation between Russia and China is strengthening in all areas. The total trade turnover between the countries over the past five years has grown to 660 billion dollars, Igor Sechin noted. Just in the first 9 months of 2023, the trade turnover between China and Russia grew by almost 30 per cent year-on-year and amounted to $176.4 billion. According to Sechin, there is every reason to believe that the trade turnover between the countries will exceed the target of $200 billion as early as this year. We see how new regional markets are being formed and alternative trade routes are being set up, Rosneft CEO noted. Igor Sechin stressed that the countries are steadily moving towards modernisation, strengthening of national security and achievement of self-sufficiency in the area of technology. In Russia's 'Turn to the East', the Chinese destination plays a key role, and the trade and economic ties between Russia and China are a pillar of stability and growth, Sechin stated. China has been Russia's largest trade partner for over a decade. In turn, this year Russia has moved up to the fourth place among the countries that are China's main foreign trade partners. Sechin also touched upon the topic of energy security. He emphasized that Russia is one of the few countries giving priority to investments in new energy projects. With the world's investments in exploration and production shrinking, the Vostok Oil Project, world's largest greenfield project in North Siberia with a resource base of 6.5 billion tons of oil is probably the largest project in the world that can have a stabilizing effect on the hydrocarbon market. These large-scale investment projects enable us to actively promote the Northern Sea Route, the shortest sea route to our customers in Asia, head of Rosneft said. Sechin concluded that Russian-Chinese relations have the nature of a comprehensive strategic partnership and have always been built on the principles of trust, respect and consideration of each other's interests. He expressed confidence that the cooperation between Russia and China has a huge potential, and that the countries are in the very beginning of the realisation of this potential. /IANS